Ongoing investigation reveals another Kansas professor teaching DEI

A department head at Kansas State University told an undercover journalist that although DEI is restricted under federal and state policies, he will not remove DEI-related content from his courses unless forced to do so.

Professor Don Kurtz, head of the university’s sociology department, told an undercover reporter with Accuracy in Media that he still teaches DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – and said the department even offers a course titled “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Practice.”

Critics argue DEI programs promote discrimination under the guise of combating it, but Kurtz defended the curriculum as necessary for helping students understand people with different backgrounds and perspectives.

“In particular with something like working with difference, I don’t know how you can work with other people and not have an understanding of other positions,” Kurtz told the reporter in November – in a video published late last week.

The Manhattan-based university also offers a course called “Race, Power and Privilege,” which Kurtz argued remains important for students.

“You can’t discuss society without discussing history,” he said, comparing DEI material to historical instruction.

Last year, Kansas passed a law eliminating DEI positions, programs and training funded by the state. Public schools and universities also are prohibited from using state funds for gender ideology initiatives, including pronouns in employee email signatures.

Despite the law, Kurtz told the undercover journalist it would take more than legislation to eliminate DEI content from his department.

“I’m not going to change it until somebody physically makes me,” he said. “I’m not doing their work for them when they try to change things.”

Kurtz’s faculty profile on the university website says he has received more than $1 million in grants for research and service projects while at Kansas State. The funding includes grants from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Justice, which are both taxpayer-funded.

Lindsey Thyer, an academic adviser at Kansas State, also was recorded earlier this year as part of Accuracy in Media’s national investigation into DEI in public education. Thyer told the undercover reporter, whom she believed to be a student, that DEI still exists at the university and its removal is “not quality education.”

Kansas law allows for potential lawsuits, funding cuts and monetary penalties for violations of the state’s DEI restrictions.

Kurtz and Thyer did not respond to Heartlander News’ requests for comment.